Much of the plastic waste generated is potentially recyclable. However, plastic waste of different compositions cannot easily be processed together into reusable plastic stock material. The sorting of plastic waste into a classes that can be processed together for reuse is not easily accomplished. Further, certain waste plastic is contaminated, and it may not be practical or even possible to process contaminated waste plastic. Accordingly, once waste plastic is introduced in the waste stream, the recycling of waste plastic is generally not practical.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,146 discloses a system and method for processing plastic waste of unknown origin into reusable plastic material. The '146 patent discloses the use of a mixer to process plastic waste such that waste is converted into a stock material that can be molded to form useable plastic parts. The system and method disclosed in the '146 is susceptible to breakage and is difficult to clean, maintain, and repair.
The need thus exists for systems and methods for processing plastic waste of unknown origin into reusable plastic material that are more reliable and can more easily be cleaned, maintained, and repaired.